Perceptual video quality comparison of 3DTV broadcasting using multimode service systems

Multimode service (MMS) systems allow broadcasters to provide multichannel services using a single HD channel. Using these systems, it is possible to provide 3DTV programs that can be watched either in three-dimensional (3-D) or two-dimensional (2-D) modes with backward compatibility. In the MMS system for 3DTV broadcasting using the Advanced Television Systems Committee standards, the left and the right views are encoded using MPEG-2 and H.264, respectively, and then transmitted using a dual HD streaming format. The left view, encoded using MPEG-2, assures 2-D backward compatibility while the right view, encoded using H.264, can be optionally combined with the left view to generate stereoscopic 3-D views. We analyze 2-D and 3-D perceptual quality when using the MMS system by comparing items in the frame-compatible format (top–bottom), which is a conventional transmission scheme for 3-D broadcasting. We performed perceptual 2-D and 3-D video quality evaluation assuming 3DTV programs are encoded using the MMS system and top–bottom format. The results show that MMS systems can be preferable with regard to perceptual 2-D and 3-D quality and backward compatibility.